


can we skip past near-death cliches?

by unsaved_misc



Series: cryptid au [1]
Category: Video Blogging RPF, supermega
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Cemetery, Ghost Seer! Carson, Ghosts, I literally have no idea what to tag, Nosebleed, Vampire! Matt, Werewolf! Ryan, Witch! Jackson, Witch! Matt, carson has ocd, cryptid AU, not much comfort but there's some, spooky stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:27:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26944402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unsaved_misc/pseuds/unsaved_misc
Summary: in the middle of the calling hours, carson fainted in the middle of the room. everyone assumed it was the warm weather, and carson didn’t really acknowledge what had happened, so everyone brushed it off. but now, in the middle of a quiet cemetery, watching carson writhe in jackson’s arms, matt wondered: could carson see ghosts?
Series: cryptid au [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1950115
Kudos: 4





	can we skip past near-death cliches?

**Author's Note:**

> aaaaaa!!! this fic isnt my best bc i couldn't really get into the writing groove but i like this plot point i guess! i hope u guys enjoy the first experience carson has with his powers :))

“why are we going to a graveyard again?” carson asked, the nervousness clear in his voice. he can see a light snow flurrying past the windshield, the wipers brushing the flakes away and leaving water droplets behind. jackson is driving with matt in the passenger seat, and ryan is sitting beside carson in the back, staring out the window with a hand resting on his cheek. carson feels like everyone around him is relaxed, like he’s the only one who realized that going into a graveyard is a bad idea.  
“for ectoplasm, obviously!” jackson exclaimed, a smile on his face. carson felt like he might puke.  
“god, stop saying that word.” matt scowled in disgust, fangs peeking out in the rearview mirror. carson had a really bad feeling about the graveyard, but he couldn’t tell if it was just adrenaline or something else.  
“what? it’s not ghost jizz or anything.” jackson said, but he was snickering. matt shoved him and jackson swerved a little on the icy road, making carson grip the seat with white knuckles. ryan peered at him, brow furrowed.  
“you okay, carson?” he asked, the two in front resuming their conversation. carson looked up at ryan, who was looking down at him with concern, and he shook his head.  
“i don’t know, man. i feel nervous.” carson admitted, his fingers fidgeting with the edges of his jean jacket subconsciously. ryan nods, placing a hand on carson’s shoulder. carson feels his face flush.  
“i get it. don’t worry dude, we’ll be there for you! if it gets too scary, i’ll sit with you in the car while they go look for the ghost jizz.” the last part at least managed a smile on carson’s face, and ryan smiled back encouragingly.  
“okay.” carson said with a tiny grin, and ryan patted him on the shoulder before going back to his perch on the window. it only took a few more minutes of carson doing reassuring self talk and a few more turns down snowy, unlit roads before they had finally arrived at pale fran cemetery. jackson had told carson the place was named because of the first ever person buried there, fran jameson, who was an 11 year old that died from tuberculosis. carson did not find this history very enlightening. the place was as pale as the name said; coated in blankets of snow from the sudden november storm, there was hardly a patch of grass to be seen. wrought-iron gates surrounded the area, a large, twisted arch marking the entrance of the place. the title was engraved in swirling letters, and carson felt like the font was moving before his eyes. probably just nerves. 

carson exited the car with ryan, matt, and jackson in tow, their breath turning to vapor from the cold. carson planted his boot in the snow a few times, enjoying how the crunching sounded, before jackson’s voice took him away from his thoughts.  
“alright. so, ectoplasm can sometimes be very hard to see. it’ll probably be on gravestones and things like that, so keep an eye out!” while he gave instructions, he passed out small glass jars to the group, and carson held onto his a little too tightly. jackson looked around at the group, seemingly pausing for dramatic effect.  
“are we ready?” he asked, and everyone nodded. he turned and the group began their trek, opening the creaky and rusted gates to pale fran cemetery. carson followed the beam of matt’s phone flashlight, choosing his steps carefully as he crunched along through the snow drifts. he was staring at his feet, mainly, trying not to look up at the many gravestones that littered the place. the air felt thick and cold, the sound of distant crows cawing and the sound of everybody’s footsteps being the only noises around. carson could feel that stupid, nagging voice in the back of his head again, telling him that something would go seriously wrong tonight, so he just fidgeted with his sleeve again and tried to remain calm. he heard the crunch of a twig and looked up, but it was only ryan. as he was about to look down and stare at his timbs again, something caught his eye. he could hear jackson saying something to matt, but carson wasn’t listening, stepping between two gravestones to see what had captured his attention. he saw it again, a flash of white amongst the grey. walking quickly through the snow, ignoring how distant his friends’ voices were getting, he finally saw her. he faltered, stumbling at the sight of the little girl standing barefoot in the snow. her black hair was sticking to her skin with an unhealthy sheen of sweat, her skin pallid and blotchy. her dress looked tattered and off-white, yellowing from dampness, and the worst was her face. blood ran viscous down her cheeks, leaking from her eyes, her mouth, her nose. carson felt fucking paralyzed.

he attempted to take a step back but he felt like he couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, and he just watched his breath steam past his lips into the black night. the girl’s mouth opened in a silent scream, blood coating her teeth and falling down onto the snow. she started speaking and carson dropped his jar.

-

“jackson, i’m not getting anything.” matt complained, scanning the tombstones for green goop. jackson groaned, waving his hands around dramatically.  
“matt, we’re not going to find anything if we only spend five minutes looking!” he argued, and matt just scoffed. even if he was pretty much dead, he still felt cold. looking down at the many graves, some hardly a stone intact, others a magnificent granite display, matt wondered how many years he had left. probably a lot more than he thought, but the thought of death still scared the shit out of him, even if he was “immortal.” vampire thoughts, he supposed. 

the sound of shattering glass broke the calm silence of the graveyard, and everyone’s head snapped to the right. nervous glances were exchanged throughout the group.  
“what the fuck was that.” matt mumbled, more of a statement than a question. ryan shrugged, but his face fell when he looked at matt.  
“where’s carson?” ryan asked, and matt felt his stomach drop, looking behind him to find empty space. how had carson snuck off? he swore that he would have heard the crunching of snow if carson had walked away from him. he looked back to jackson and he could see the panic setting in his friend’s face. carson could have just wandered off, obviously, but knowing all the supernatural escapades these boys had gone through, anything could’ve happened. they immediately began searching the graveyard, flashlights dancing wildly over the scattered stones. thankfully, they didn’t have to look far in the small graveyard before they found carson, standing amidst a collection of graves and staring into the darkened trees.  
“carson! jesus christ, you scared us.” jackson said in relief, but carson didn’t say anything. “carson?” he asked, brow furrowed in confusion as he stepped slightly in front of carson’s sight. jackson’s face went pale.

“jackson? what’s wrong?” matt asked, but jackson didn’t say anything. he grabbed carson by the shoulders gently, jostling him a little, but before he could say anything, carson let out a bloodcurdling scream. everyone flinched away, startled by the sudden noise, and everything seemed to happen at once. carson seemed to struggle for a moment, arms raised in front of him and attempting to shield his face from some unseen entity, stumbling back on a snowdrift and falling onto his back. matt peered where carson was standing but he couldn’t see anything, and the sounds of carson’s consistent screaming seemed more important to attend to. matt kneeled down beside him and realized what jackson was so scared of: carson’s eyes were pale, milky white, staring unfocused at something beyond what the boys could see, his nose beginning to bleed. the screaming wouldn’t stop, constant and so loud and fearful that it made matt’s skin prickle with goosebumps. and, suddenly, he remembers something jackson had told him a long time ago. the tucker family had a funeral two years ago, some distant uncle who passed from cancer. jackson and carson didn’t know the man very well but attended anyway, on a particularly hot summer day, and something strange happened. in the middle of the calling hours, carson fainted in the middle of the room. everyone assumed it was the warm weather, and carson didn’t really acknowledge what had happened, so everyone brushed it off. but now, in the middle of a quiet cemetery, watching carson writhe in jackson’s arms, matt wondered: could carson see ghosts? that was a conversation for another time, once they were at home and safe.

“carson- carson, look at me!” jackson exclaimed, voice wavering, but carson cried out instead at the unseen force, mumbling incoherently as he squeezed his eyes shut.  
“t-there’s too many, i c-can’t-” he choked out, and jackson asked him who he was talking about, but carson couldn’t focus. he clawed at the air, arms clashing against nothing, and his ears had begun to bleed as well.  
“we need to get him out of here!” ryan shouted over the din, and jackson couldn’t even respond, hands trembling as he attempted to get carson up. ryan, who always remained clear-headed in these types of situations, put both hands underneath carson and lifted him up, guiding matt and jackson toward the exit. matt could hardly focus where he was going, tripping over stones and snow drifts as they raced toward the rusting gates. matt swore he saw them shutting on their own before ryan charged through, but he could have been imagining it. they practically jumped inside the car, but at least carson had stopped screaming by then. ryan laid carson down and instructed matt to stay in the back with him while he drove, and matt did so with carson’s head in his lap. the boy’s eyes were back to their normal brown, but a few streaks of his hair had turned white from fear. matt ran his fingers through his friend’s hair, looking down at him and hoping he’d be okay.  
“m-matt.” carson mumbled, and matt nodded.  
“yeah?”  
“th-there were so many. they wouldn’t stop t-touching me, they wanted to f-fucking kill me.” his voice was shaking as well as his hands, and matt took hold of one of them, squeezing tightly.  
“you’re safe, carson. they can’t hurt you anymore, okay?” matt assured him, but carson just shook his head, burying it into matt’s coat. matt sighed, stroking carson’s hair gently and looking out the window as they hurriedly drove away from the cemetery. the snowfall had gotten harder, chunks instead of singular flakes lingering on the window, and matt found himself praying for the first time in a long time.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope u enjoyed!! please leave feedback :D


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